It's Sunday evening here, though all my friends in New Zealand are already starting Monday morning.

Thursday was a pleasant day which involved drinking large amounts of coffee, some at Angela's house in the morning and some at Chris's house in the afternoon. Very pleasant, it's great to catch up and have a good chat with people.

On Friday morning I went to Coffee Plus, which was lovely as usual and in the afternoon I went round to Mum's for coffee and a chat.

On Saturday I made a vegetable lasagne and fixed up some salad for the evening. I also got out and did some gardening for the first time since Christmas. It was a lovely sunny day with a real feel of spring in the air, and I enjoyed being outside, deheading hydrangeas and generally tidying up for a while. In the evening we went over to Oxton for the Coffee Plus social at Chris's place, it was a really pleasant evening, there were nineteen of us there, and it was really good to spend some social time together rather than the usual hurried greetings at the beginning or end of a service. It was nearly midnight when we arrived home.

Today we've done the usual church things and had lunch at Mum's. Ian fixed up some things on Mum's computer and we watched Oxford win the boat race. Back to church in the evening. The sermon tonight was all about how important every Christian is, no matter how insignificant, they or their lives may seem, that was a good message.

Comments

So what do you put in a vegetable lasagne? Lasagne is one of our family favourites, but I'd love to leave the mince out sometimes. Sometimes I just can't face mince LOL!

Your weekend sound good in a social kind of way, which surely is one of the best ways.

-The sermon tonight was all about how important every Christian is, no matter how insignificant, they or their lives may seemSuch a good message, and one that can warm your heart when you're feeling a little insignificant!

So what do you put in a vegetable lasagne?Any of the following, omit any you don't like!Onions, mushrooms, peppers, courgettes, aubergine, carrots, pumpkin, sweetcorn and peas, plus a can of chopped tomatoes.I would probably never use all of the above, just whatever I have to hand, but all of the above work well. I really prefer vegetable lasagne to the normal variety, I also do a tuna lasagne which is nice for a change!

Such a good message, and one that can warm your heart when you're feeling a little insignificant!, which I was yesterday. Sometimes I just find it hard to be the new person. Don't get me wrong, I've got to know heaps of people, and many of them have been wonderful and very friendly and accepting, but there are times when you are just so aware that people have lots of history which you don't fully understand and which you're not a part of. That all means that you just have to give so much without always getting much back. That's how I was feeling last night, but today is a new day!!

That sort of filling sounds good. I'll have to try it. I can imagine the reaction though...!!!

Oh, poor Viv, it is always hard to be the new person, you're right, and I really admire you for getting in there with the clarinet and joining all those groups and everything. -but today is a new day!!And yeah, it's true, you can feel better just one day later sometimes *g*

I can imagine the reaction though...!!! I don't cook this for my children, only for adult audiences! Chris wouldn't even eat ordinary lasagne because he hates tomato so much!

Really, I was just feeling sorry for myself last night, no one had done anything wrong, I just was missing the sort of closeness you have with people, when you have shared many experiences. Those things take time and I know full well that it will happen, if I just hang in there. And it is being a part of things that helps it to happen more quickly, it's just hard work sometimes!!

Newcomers always have to work much harder to be accepted than people who have always been around, they tend to be better informed, and very interested, but it's really important to get the balance right, if you over do it, people resent the intrusion, and will exclude you. It's a bit like walking a tightrope, and sometimes you are sure to fall off!! But having a faith is a bit like having a safety net which stops it all being too painful, and gives you the courage to get back up there again!

-It's a bit like walking a tightrope, and sometimes you are sure to fall off!!That's true, and kind of how we felt about our new parishioner who can play the piano. She arrived in the church so ultra religious that I didn't see how she could fit in with our music group!! I think she'd be insulted by the boys and their fun. So I haven't brought her right on board yet, but I'd like her to feel more involved and welcome. I just don't want her feeling insulted by it all... more balancing!

Sensitivity is really necessary on both sides, and a newcomer must tread carefully until they understand how things work in a place. Your new parishioner shouldn't expect your church to change just to suit her, but equally she shouldn't be rejected just because she does things differently, if we are all accepting, we can learn from each other and become richer and more mature than we would otherwise have been, but it's not at all an easy path to tread.

Equally importantly, you can't throw away the really important stuff with the trivia and the hard thing is distinguishing between what is truly essential to the life of your organisation (church/school etc) and what can be changed without any great loss. Peoples natural resistance to change doesn't make this any easier. You face those issues any time there is a change of management but even a new member of staff or congregation can change challenge our norms. It's all a very tricky business!!